She Smiled Sweetly
by Matinee Idol
Summary: Severus Snape was in love. Not that he could ever share this. So he contents himself to watching her meditate from the shadows each evening. Possible further chapters.


This was written in about a half hour after being inspired by my evening's meditation and listening to Barber's "Adagio For Strings, Opus 11".

* * *

><p>The way her lips curled in the corners as she sat in a seamless state of quietude. The way her ample bosom rose and fell with each breath that was taken deeply and purposefully, bringing with it a calm that had not been felt by the woman for longer than she had cared to remember. The way her soft mane of ebony locks fell down her back in garlands, catching the moonlight in their glittering threads enough to enchant all those who happened to glance at her. These were only small reasons that Severus Snape, for the fifth evening in a row, found himself hiding in the shadows in the small passageway beside the forecourt, watching in rapt enchantment as the woman before him sat meditating peacefully beside the trickling fountain.<p>

From the moment he had set eyes upon her, she had captivated him. Albeit unknowingly to anybody but himself. After all, he was a man of very reserved nature. But there she was, the beauty he had fallen for, sat unknowing of his presence as she naively lay herself open and powerless as she sought the peace and tranquility of the midnight air. He hadn't known her long. Maybe a month at the most. The new school year had brought with it not only a flurry of students whom a number of which he had reduced to tears with his brash nature, but the newest, and dare he say youngest, member of staff to grace the walls of their crumbling castle. Neva Amos. She had taken the reigns from Professor McGonnagal come the woman's time to begin her career as a Headmistress of the occasionally ill fated academy. She had quickly proven herself a woman to be reckoned with, despite her flighty and often naive nature. He could recall with great vividness the moment he had met the woman. How her hazel eyes had been the first thing his own coal shaded orbs had fallen upon. How her smile had lit up the room without even an attempt on her part to animate herself. How he had been rude enough to ignore all of this in favour of his usual nature.

_It having been a long and hard summer for many of the Hogwart's Staff, it wasn't with eager anticipation that they found themselves in the dusty and unkempt staffroom that was so familiar to their profession. McGonnagal surveyed her colleagues from her place by the fireplace, having risen to the ranks of Headmistress after her loyal friend's death. Not having quite expected to see him so soon, her eyes fell onto the dark and casually grim figure that was Severus Snape, the man holding his usual err of contempt and silent nobility. "Ahem..." she cleared her throat in the hopes of sparking attention, having to commit a most unkind act and hold Flitwick back with her foot to silence him, eager for the audience with her colleagues. _

_"AHEM!" she exclaimed in a much louder voice, a few glasses being broken with the sudden shock as eyes fell on her. Well, almost all eyes, Severus Snape still held his gaze to the floor, it obvious to anybody that saw him that there was something on his mind. "Now that I have your attention...I have a few announcements to make..." she announced in her Scottish brogue, fixing her hat as a stray snitch from Madame Hooch's care fluttered into her, as if eager to explore the sooty hearth behind her. "As you can already see, our old...er...friend...Severus Snape has returned to his post as Potions Master. So we shall all welcome him back with open arms" she added with apparently undue happiness, her quick and robust gesture of clapped hands being alone in its presence, the others looking far less pleased with the information. She sighed a little, shaking off the short lived embarassment as she allowed her hands to drop like dead weights at her sides._

_"Now for the more important news. As you know, my appointment as Headmistress was finalised this very evening. As such, I cannot continue my role as Transfiguration Professor and Head of House. Professor Sinastra, claiming a sudden allergy to her own common room, has decided that she will obligingly take over the role as Gryffindor Head of House. As such I have appointed a new Professor and Head of Ravenclaw House. Miss Neva Amos shall be arriving shortly. Some of you may know her from her short lived career as an Auror before...er...unpleasantness...caused her to re-evaluate her decisions" she explained. With that she stepped aside from her place as the hearth began to belch thick clouds of soot, rattling and the odd cuss word being heard from deep within the chimney, causing Flitwick to giggle childishly amidst glares from other Professors._

_Having found herself for a few brief moments trapped by her own luggage, it was with great relief that Neva Amos had fallen to the floor of the hearth with, rather surprisingly, fluid and graceful movements as though belonging to a prize gymnast. Brushing off her deep red, fitted victorian robes as though there was little to fuss with, she stepped pristinely through the floo with only a small dab of soot on her left cheek indicating that she had indeed been through this form of transportation. Unwilling to appear rude as her luggage followed her inside in the form of a small and beautiful array of exotic birds, she bowed curtly to the congregated group, her curled and shining raven locks hardly moving from their immaculately crafted state before she straightened herself, allowing her attention to be taken by McGonaggal as she stood looking quite impressed by the birds that fluttered around the room in beautiful display. _

_"Ah. Miss Amos. Wonderful to see you at last. Everyone, this is Neva Amos" she announced to the group, the small wisp of a woman having to bow surprisingly very little in order to shake the hand of an excited Flitwick as he stepped boldly forward to greet. "Very good to meet you all" the woman, who it was now clear to realise was not of English descent, greeted in a voice some of the more affected men in the room couldn't help but find themselves transfixed by. In fact, as McGonagal was a little perturbed to note, rather a few of the people in the room seemed to be staring at the devastatingly beautiful woman with slack jaws. She shrugged it off however as a symptom of new and young faculty as she watched the woman make her way around the room in greeting each of her colleagues in turn, too late to warn her as she reached the end of the road and thus Severus himself. "Nice to meet you, Smiler" Neva beamed brightly as she proffered a friendly hand to shake, her smile never faltering from her lips as she waited for the man who seemed rather taken aback and put out by her presence to react._

How he sorely wished now that he had smiled. For her now he would have smiled. For her now he would have given the world. Not that he could bring himself to ever make the woman aware of this. How quickly he had fallen in love with the woman before him. But alas, he could not. What on earth would she see in him, anyway? As his students would ever so eloquently describe him, he was little more than a slimy git. His heart feeling somewhat heavy with weight at the knowledge that he could not transcribe his feelings, his pale hand sought the steadiness of the stone archway to hold himself steady as he leant further, boldly closer to the view before him, albeit still in the shadows.

His eyes travelled along every slender curve in her figure, every small blemish of scar along her arms and small patches of exposed legs. He had always wondered how those had occurred. They were far too uniform for accidental creation. Far too neat and pristine in their layout. An Auror he had never once seen gain injuries such as those. He did not wish to know truly how she had attained them. For he knew this woman as only the happiest, brightest of people. He did not wish to know this not to be the case. Not unless he were permitted to be the one who could fix her. But he could not. He could only know the woman who would brightly greet her students despite the hour, who could be seen hugging close tearful students who had fallen victim to meagre grades or meagre hearted students. He was convinced that her heart knew no bounds. As his own did not at this moment in time.

It were as though an invisible orchestra were playing for him alone, the feeling in his heart was so great. That was what this woman meant to him. She was music in its corporeal form. Delicate, uniform notes where the vision he saw before him were the harmony. He was grateful for the darkness that hid him, the hour that kept the students in their beds as he leant back against the wall and closed his eyes to catch the breath he had not been aware of holding. A single tear trailing down his cheek at the knowledge that this harmony could never be his own.

His eyes opening ever so slowly once his breath was back to its usual rhythm, he leant forward again in the hopes of watching his Neva a little longer. His eyes scanned the small forecourt for the woman, growing disheartened and weary to realise without exception that she had gone. Another night of quiet audience was ended. The only part of the evening where he truly felt as though he were alive was over. It would be another evening before he got to relish in his new found evening routine the woman unknowingly shared with him. He hoped she would never have to know of her unexpected visitor each evening.

For he never wished it to end.


End file.
